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Mystery Publishers

Academy Chicago PublishersAn imprint of the Chicago Review Press. Features a number of interesting authors, most long out of print, plus some other odds and ends, including some horror stories by Conan Doyle.

Crippen & LandruCrippen & Landru publish mystery short story collections. Of particular interest is what they call "Lost Classics," a series of anthologies of mostly uncollected stories by authors who might be enjoyed by a new generation of readers.

Dean Street PressThis small British publisher has a great many classic crime books in its much broader catalog. They are bringing back many Golden Age classics by authors who deserve another chance at a new audience.

Felony & MayhemThis publisher specializes in classic mysteries, broadly defined, including newer mysteries that adhere to classic standards. They have just overhauled their website to make it much more informative and user-friendly.

Langtail PressA fairly new Print On Demand publisher specializing mostly in classic mysteries. The managing director, James Prichard is the great-grandson of Agatha Christie, and his lineage shows. Authors include John Dickson Carr, Ellery Queen, Anthony Berkeley, and Freeman Wills Crofts, among others. Many are also published as ebooks for the Amazon Kindle.

Locked Room InternationalA small press, specializing in very good English-language translations of (so far) mostly-French authors of locked room and impossible crime stories. They publish in Print-On-Demand and electronic editions.

Merion PressThe Merion Press is an independent publisher of out-of-print works that were originally published over 75 years ago, but are enduring even today.

MysteriousPress.comThe brainchild of editor/anthologist/author/bookstore-owner Otto Penzler, the Mysterious Press has recently returned to life and now works with Open Road Media as an electronic book publisher. It is already republishing the work of a lot of classic authors, with more books on the way.

Oconee Spirit PressA small, independent publisher committed to publishing "lively fiction, and provocative non-fiction." Most of their list covers early works by established authors writing traditional mysteries, such as Carolyn Hart and Margaret Maron.

Oleander PressThis small eclectic British publisher has begun publishing a series of classic British mystery novels, primarily from the Golden Age. The series is grouped into a section of their catalogue named "London Bound," as the books are set in London.

Ostara Publishing"Ostara Publishing re-issues titles that have unjustifiably become unavailable either through the ravages of time or the forces of publishing economics. We specialise in Crime and Thriller fiction titles and our range goes from the1920s through to the 21st century. We publish thematically and currently have six series available. All our titles are published in a 'trade paperback' format and printed to order."

Poisoned Pen PressBased in Scottsdale, Arizona, the Poisoned Pen Press publishes a fairly wide variety of mysteries. Some are reprints; many are new, by newer authors. Their website has a great deal of information about their books and authors.

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Disclosure: Amazon Associates

I am an Amazon Associate

That means that if you order anything from Amazon through a link from my site or the search box on my page, I get a small commission. As a result, I'd consider it a favor if you would consider making your purchases through my links. As always, though, if you have a local mystery book store, I encourage you to use them as your first choice. For anything else... Thank you.

August 19, 2013

"Death of Jezebel"

There were more than a thousand witnesses to the murder. The victim was on stage, at a big English industrial show. She was in a room in a high tower on the stage, where she was supposed to come out on a balcony and make a speech. Instead, when the lights came up for her speech, what the enormous audience saw was the victim's body, apparently pushed over the side of the balcony, falling to the stage - and she had been strangled within moments of her fall. Yet it was impossible that anyone could have gotten to her in that room - or gotten away afterwards.

Like it so far? That's the central problem in Death of Jezebel, a 1948 mystery by Christianna Brand. It's the subject of today's audio review on the Classic Mysteries podcast, and you can listen to the entire review by clicking here.

The victim is a woman named Isabel Drew, who has managed to make herself actively disliked and loathed by most of her acquaintances. Many of them refer to her as "Jezebel," a Biblical princess of ill repute. Just as the Biblical Jezebel met her death by being thrown from a high tower, so does this modern day Jezebel.

Christianna Brand puts not one but two sleuths to work on the case. Her primary series detective, Inspector Cockrill, finds himself here working with Inspector Charlesworth, a London detective who appears on his own in two other novels by Brand. It is inspector Cockrill - Cockie - who will ultimately provide the solution to the case, but only after more murder and attempted murder.

The whole story is told with Brand's usual wit. And as for the impossible murder, you'll be relieved to know that Cockie and Charlesworth manage to come up with not one but several ways in which it could have been carried out. And it's worth noting that Cockie is a very human detective - one who makes his share of serious mistakes...

"Death of Jezebel" is an excellent mystery, a sometimes bloody tale about believable characters, characters for whom you will find yourself caring. And, yes, that includes the murderer. It is not currently in print in hardcover or paper, but it is available in electronic editions. I do recommend it highly.

I find myself enjoying her books immensely, Margot. And the twists in "Green for Danger," in particular, are fiendish and - for me - they were almost impossible to foresee. I'm looking forward to reading more of her.

One of the best impossible murders in the entire genre. Very witty but maybe too arch for a lot of American readers who get turned off by "highbrow" writing. I've written about this book at length for two fan magazines, sadly both are now defunct. A couple years ago I posted the article at the GAD wiki.

So happy this is now available for a wide audience. Took me nearly fifteen years to find a copy and luckily I only paid $12 for it. This is one time I'm happy for a digital copy of a long out of print book.